Blood Counts Low

Joe got a call from the Dr yesterday that his blood counts are down. He went in yesterday and today to get shots to increase white blood counts and will also get a red blood shot on Thursday or Friday. This is common with the chemo but means he is at a higher risk for catching any viruses or sickness until the counts come back up. He has been much more tired with this round than the last. He came over for dinner tonight (takeout from Bennigans - yes it was Mark's turn to cook). He ate a little, but not too much. He continues to get his TPN feedings every night. He has not felt nauseous this time around as has in the past. He hasn't had to take any of the new nausea medicine he receive yet. But, had felt much more tired and weak. They did not change the regiment this time, so we are not sure why he is reacting differently this time. It's hard for us to know much right now until we can see some test results. I think both Joe and Audry will be pushing to get tests ran soon rather than wait 3-4 weeks as the Dr had planned.

The Big Snow

Did everyone survive the big snow? We got about 5 inches of snow here in Des Moines. Mark spent much the weekend with the snow blower and shovel. Nico spent most of it sledding and poor Noah wasn't feeling good and got to hang out indoors with me and Luca. Joe has continued to be very tired and did a lot of sleeping over the weekend. We haven't seen much energy return during these last rounds and he continues to stay on his TPN feedings since he hasn't been eating too much. He doesn't go back to the Dr until next week and we are hoping we can get another PET scan earlier than later to if anything is happening inside. Please continue to keep the prayers coming.

A new round for Joe

Joe started his next round of treatment on Wed. It hit him yesterday and he was not feeling well. He spent the day at home resting. I haven't had too mnay updates to give as his health has remained pretty much the same in the last few weeks. He had some fun playing with the grandboys this week though since they were out of school for a few days because of parent teacher conferences. Mark and I are starting to work some on the basement, starting with my art studio. I'm excited to get going on this so I can start working on some art and also maybe start teaching some art lessons. Hope everyone has a safe weekend - the weather doesn't look so great!

Chemo starts again tomorrow

Joe starts his next round chemo tomorrow. They are also going to give him a new drug for his nausea which is called Marinol. This is a derivative of a specific narcotic that sounds a lot like the name....but doesn't have quite the effect that the real stuff does! We all found this a bit amusing as my Dad has told Joe he should be taking the real stuff for his pain a month or so ago. We all know Joe can be loopy enough at times without that kind of help! They will not be doing any testing until after another round so we are looking at a month before we can see what kind of results we are getting from this new medication.

The Gang's All Here...

Tony and Theresa made it into Des Moines on Thursday evening after being delayed several days from the weather on the East Coast. We had a nice weekend with everyone together and even took some family photos, thanks to Gina. I've attached a few shots here (unaltered). Joe has continued to be very worn down and his stomach has not been allowing him to eat much. I believe he has lost another 5 pounds. He is scheduled to start another round of chemo on Wednesday.

Happy Valentine's Day

We spent a nice night at Joe and Audry's eating homemade pizza for Valentine's Day. Joe and Audry got some nice gifts for the kids. Joe felt well enough to go out to Target and pick them out some cute T-shirts and of course some candy. He also spent a little time yesterday working on the driveway (about 1/2 hour). This is something he really enjoys. He has continued to be very tired especially at night. Next Wed. Joe will start his third round of chemo. Tony and Theresa have been delayed from getting in due to weather. We are hoping they will make it in tomorrow. Hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day!

Mon Feb 12th

Joe spent most of the day resting. He continues to be very cold (having a fire has helped to keep him warm-thanks to those who have brought over fire wood, I think he could use some more as it's been burning pretty quickly). His stomch has been upset so he hasn't been eating as much. Tony, Theresa and Geofferey are flying in tomorrow and will be here through the following Tuesday, which should brighten our week. We are still trying to get Nico well. He has been out of school all last week and today. He's been on several antiobiotics but keeps getting a recurring fever. He had blood work done today to mak sure he does not have mono and it was negative. His white blood counts were down so Dr believes that it is viral. He's done a lot of sleeping so we know he is not feeling good. Hopefully we will have a fever free day tomorrow. Luca has also not been well either and fighting off and on again fevers. I hope none of you catch this bug!

A few bad days for Joe

Joe has had a couple of rough days. He was feeling pretty ill yesterday, very cold, tired with an upset stomach. He hasn't eaten real well the last few days either. He did make it to church this morning and ran some errands, but he was very worn out this evening. We think that the new drug he is taking has had this effect. But overall he is still doing pretty well. Please keep him in your prayers through these next few rounds - and we can see how it has taken effect. Our household continues to get better. We really got pounded by the strep/flu bug this year!

Happy Birthday Buddy and James!

Today is Buddy's 5th birthday, which officially makes him the oldest in our house (in dog years that is). Nico and I just took him to his annual trip to the 3 Dog Bakery in Valley Junction for his brithday treat and present. (Yes, our dog is spoiled). He also picked up a few treats for his best "bud" Louie. For those of you that don't know who that is, it is Matt and Betsy's Great Dane. We are heading over to Dan and Jill's shortly for James' first birthday party. He turned one on the 8th. Joe has been doing real well this week, without much complications. The word is that he's getting a little bored though. He's been trying to talk his way into going into work, but none of us are hearing anything of it. If anyone has ideas on how to keep him busy, let us know!!

Update on the Skigs

We are slowly returning to normal around our house. Noah was able to go back to school and Luca to Daycare. Nico and I remained home today though. Nico has averaged around 102-103 temp but it finally came down today. We hope he can make it back to school just in time to take Basic Skills tests tomorrow!!!

Joe is still at the hospital getting his treaments. he went in at 2:00 and is getting ready to come home now with his takehome chemo meds. So far so good...

Strep throat X 4

Sorry for the delay in postings, but we have Strep throat in our house. Nico, Noah, Luca and myself all have it. We kindly passed it over to Danny's house as well and Marguerite and James both have it.

Joe had an appointment today and will start his next treatment tomorrow. He will go to the hosiptal for a few hours and receive a dose, then take one home and go back for another one Thursday. He will be started on another treatment that has been shown to help stop the tumor from spreading. His white counts were good, but both his red blood cell count and nutritional counts were down. This means that he will get a shot on Friday and he will continue receiving his TPN feedings daily. We'll see how this different treatment will combine with his current treatment. The Dr did feel though that he tolerated this last round very well. He will get 2 rounds of the new drug, then they will test to see if we are getting any results.

Sunday, Feb 4th

Joe had his blood test on Friday and his counts were good. He will start a new round of chemo plus another medicine on Tuesday. No word yet on when he will have another test. Not much other news right now. I have 2 sick kids, so need to get them to bed!

Thanks to everyone

Just wanted to give a big thank you to all of you out in cyberspace that have been reading this blog, bringing food, sending cards, etc. Joe and Audry most definitely have a great network of friends (and so do we). We couldn't get through this time without you. I had a message from Jill last night that for those of you that have brought food to Audry, she has a basket full of tupperware/dishware. She is not sure who it all belongs to...so if she has something of yours, please feel free to drop by and pick it up. Joe and Audry had a nice day today. They went out to breakfast with a friend and had some family visit today. Joe has remained pretty constant this week, tired, but relatively well. Mark and I have both had a long week with work and Audry was able to help out a few days this week picking up the kids. St Anthony's had an early out this week so the grandkids spent the afternoon. I could tell it wore Joe out though - probably all the commotion. (I don't blame him!) Joe will get his blood count tested tomorrow so I'll let everyone know if it's safe to visit over the weekend. It might be best to stay in though with as cold as it's going to be! Stay warm!